Transport Vehicles

Manure can harbor a plethora of disease-causing pathogens and provide a suitable environment for their extended survival. Therefore, vehicles entering the farm for purposes of animal transport should be subjected to thorough washing and disinfection and allowed to completely dry before travel to the farm. Contaminated vehicles pose a direct challenge to farm biosecurity, and movement of vehicles on and off the farm should be restricted whenever possible. Ideally, load-out facilities should be located on the perimeter of the farm complex, and transport vehicles should be restricted from entering the farm when picking up animals for transport. Perimeter fencing may be used to restrict vehicles from entering the premises unannounced and may also be used to coordinate parking and access of employee vehicles. Unfortunately, when transport vehicles are stocked with animals, disease-causing pathogens may be disseminated via aerosol transmission without the vehicle having entered the farm. Farms should be located a sufficient distance from major thoroughfares that are used for animal transport. A distance of 1.86 miles (3 km) away from other farms is considered ideal to minimize disease transmission, although some pathogens can aerosolize and travel for long distances.